Sports

‘Dear Basketball’ — NBA Legend Kobe Bryant Announces Retirement [VIDEO]

Christian Datoc Senior White House Correspondent
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Five time NBA champion Kobe Bryant announced his retirement from the NBA late Sunday night.

In an open letter to the fans published on the Players’ Tribune, Bryant wrote that the 2015-2016 season — his twentieth in the league — would be “all [he] has left to give.”

Dear Basketball,

From the moment

I started rolling my dad’s tube socks

And shooting imaginary

Game-winning shots

In the Great Western Forum

I knew one thing was real:

I fell in love with you …

You gave a six-year-old boy his Laker dream

And I’ll always love you for it.

But I can’t love you obsessively for much longer.

This season is all I have left to give.

My heart can take the pounding

My mind can handle the grind

But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.

Play on, playa.

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